future

Spain, France and Germany could not depend on the “button” of the F-35. So the future European fighter aims for something else

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In the month of September the future European fighter in which Spain participates began to disfigure publicly. Germany threatened to open FCAS to new partners if there was no agreement with France, while Spain joined Berlin with Indra and, on the opposite sidewalk, a continental bet appeared, the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) that brought together Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan around a different philosophy. Now, in a new twist of the script, the European fighter is aiming for something else. An overflowing program. He Future Combat Air System (FCAS), conceived in 2017 as Europe’s great bet to build the combat air ecosystem of the second half of the 21st century and put aside the american dependencyis going through its crisis deeper. Germany and France, political and industrial drivers of the project, they study abandoning the most symbolic piece (the new generation fighter) to take refuge in its only still viable element: the combat clouda command and control network based on artificial intelligence capable of integrating manned aircraft, swarms of drones, radars, sensors and naval and land systems in the same operational environment. The shift does not seem like a simple technical reorientation, but rather a tacit recognition that the differences between Airbus and Dassault Aviation They have reached a point of no return. At a time when Europe wants to demonstrate strategic autonomy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the largest military program of the continent is at risk of fracturing due to the inability of its two main contractors to share responsibilities, cede control and coordinate incompatible industrial visions. The Airbus-Dassault divorce. The conflict between Dassault and Airbus it’s not recentbut it has now reached an intensity that makes advancing the fighter impossible. Dassault, creator of the Rafale and a family-owned company, demands total authority on the design of the aircraft and selection of suppliers. For its part, Airbus (which represents Germany and part of Spain) considers that a European project of this magnitude should be governed by a balanced distribution of work. Negotiations have been stalled for years, with each party accusing the other of breaking agreements. While Dassault threatens to continue alone because “it has all the necessary experience”, the temptation to replace France grows in Berlin through the United Kingdom or Swedentwo partners who already participate in the rival Tempest program. The result is a vicious circle: without trust, there is no cooperation, without cooperation, there is no plane, and without plane, the FCAS becomes an empty shell supported only by the idea. from combat cloud. FCAS The German temptation and the French dilemma. The pressure is not symmetrical. Germany, which has relaxed its spending limit to rearm on a large scaledoes not want to be held hostage by a French company that is blocking progress. According to the Financial Timesin the environment of Chancellor Friedrich Merz an increasingly clear message is heard: if collaboration does not work, Berlin has the resources to continue without Paris. France, for its part, shows caution: its nuclear deterrent It depends on the replacement of the Rafale starting in the next decade, and an abrupt divorce could delay a key system for its strategic security. Although Macron hoped to rebuild trust after years of disagreements, even French voices admit that the project is “immobilized and almost dead,” and that the only real way out is through direct intervention by the president on Éric Trappier, the powerful CEO of Dassault. Combat Cloud The combat cloud as a strategic refuge. Just because the plane stalls doesn’t mean FCAS is meaningless. The most transformative piece of the program is not the fighter, but the AI-based distributed command and control system: a combat cloud european that allows any platform (Rafale, Eurofighter, long-range drones, naval sensors or ground radars) to share data in real time. This system, developed by Airbus (Germany), Thales (France) and Indra (Spain), is the only thing that everyone agrees on: Europe can (co)live with several planes, but not with incompatible networks that depend entirely on the American technological umbrella as was the case with the F-35. That is why it is proposed to accelerate the entry into service from the cloud to 2030a decade ahead of schedule, and armor it as a common pillar even if the joint fighter disappears. For many European countries, having their own cloud is the only way to guarantee that, if Washington one day looks the other way, the continent’s armies can operate in a cohesive and autonomous manner. Failure with implications. If he FCAS collapsesit will not just be an industrial setback, but a devastating geopolitical message. Europe has been proclaiming its desire for military autonomy for years, but every time it tries to create its own capabilities it runs into problems. same obstacles: competition between nations, political misgivings, absence of common governance and divergent priorities. This crisis also comes at a critical moment, when the war in Ukraine has demonstrated that technological superiority it is played onlinethat reaction time is vital and that Western systems must interoperate seamlessly. That the largest European defense project could collapse for corporate disputes shows the extent to which the dream of an integrated defense continues to depend on fragile foundations. What is played in a few weeks. The Financial Times recalled that the calendar is tight. Paris, Berlin and Madrid must decide before the end of the year whether to finance the airplane demonstration, an investment of several billion that no one wants to approve while the project remains blocked. The meetings between the French minister Catherine Vautrin, her German counterpart Boris Pistorius, Merz and Macron will be decisive: or the FCAS is redefined around to combat cloud or formally disintegrates. Everyone repeats that the Franco-German bilateral relationship should not be damaged, but the reality is that companies have carried out the program to the limit. The FCAS was born to symbolize defense Europe, but today only the combat cloud keeps that symbol alive as the last possible bridge between two industries that no longer … Read more

Shein and Temu had taken over e-commerce in the EU. Your future is complicated for one reason: small packages

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The body that brings together the Ministers of Economy and Finance of the European Union (Ecofin) wants to put an end to the red carpet that Europe has laid out for platforms like Shein or Temu for years. The mechanism is simple: end the tariff exemption that until now has benefited packages of less than 150 euros that were imported into the old continent. Why is it important. In recent years we have seen how platforms like Temu or Shein have become absolute giants of electronic commerce. Part of that success has been based on how cheap it was for these platforms to ship their affordable products: they took advantage of a tariff exemption for packages valued at less than 150 euros, but that exemption’s days were numbered. And now he has even more of them. Deadlines want to be shortened. The initial proposal put forward by the European Commission was to eliminate this exemption in 2028. This week Ecofin took advantage of this proposal, but the executive made it clear that they have an additional objective: to advance its application two years, to 2026. Chinese companies did not stop making a fortune. 91% of all e-commerce shipments valued at less than 150 euros They came from China in 2022. Alibaba, Temu and Shein were the clear beneficiaries of an exemption that was created in the 1980s and that has gained extraordinary relevance with the rise of electronic commerce. 1.5 billion euros that the EU does not collect. According to a report that the EU commissioned from a group of experts, the union’s coffers stopped collecting 1.5 billion euros for those imports of less than 150 euros. In 2024 products entered the EU worth 4.6 billion euros through packages of less than 150 euros: double that of the previous year. Two euros for each small package. The Commission wants not only to stop this mechanism used by Chinese e-commerce platforms, but also to apply a minimum fee of two euros for these low-value packages. Eliminating the exemption in 2026 is a firm intention. This tax for the moment is an announcement that can remain just that. It will not be easy to advance the deadlines. The initial proposal is reasonable in terms of deadlines because adapting customs to this new reality is not easy. As pointed out the EU statement issued after the meeting, this new regulation “will begin to apply once the EU Customs Data Centre, the central platform proposed by the EU to interact with customs and strengthen controls, is operational, which is currently planned for 2028.” European companies could not compete. In recent years Shein, Temu or Aliexpress have grown exceptionally thanks to this regulation. According to Danish Finance Minister Stephanie Losse, this caused “unfair competition” in which European companies lost out. Tariffs from the first euro. The EU estimates that 65% of small packages entering the EU are “undervalued to avoid customs duties on imports”, something that also raises “environmental concerns, given the incentive for non-EU companies to split shipments into individual packages when sending goods to the Union.” The new regulations seek to ensure that goods entering the EU pay tariffs from the first euro. The US has already applied the story. The trade war that the US maintains with China caused the United States to already take similar measures. In February, Donald Trump issued a new executive order that also eliminated the so-called “de minimis” exception for packages valued below $800. Although there was later some relaxation Regarding the terms of that regulation, the impact on this type of commerce has been notable. Our pocket will suffer. The logical consequence of these changes is twofold: consumers will not have access to such a wide catalog on Chinese platforms, and it is also likely that the products sold on Temu or Shein will increase in price to pass on this increase in costs to users. Meanwhile, companies from the old continent such as Inditex could win by competing more favorably against these Chinese platforms. In Xataka | Shipping this $320 lens from Japan to Spain costs $29. Sending it to the US costs 2,000, and it is not a typographical error

The DGT is clear that the future is the V-16 beacon… or the V-16 beacon

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On January 1, 2026 comes one of the most profound changes that Traffic regulations have experienced in our country in recent years. In just over a month, the way of signaling a breakdown or accident will completely change on our roads with the V-16 beacons connected. A system that has raised controversy but about which Traffic already warns: there is no turning back. “It is clear”. Nor will there be any extension. This is what Pere Navarro, director of the DGT, has warned about in the presentation of the Dekra 2025 Road Safety Report at the Mapfre Foundation headquarters, as stated Hybrids and Electrics. Regarding the possibility of not taking them, Navarro has assured that “there are no excuses or extensions. It is clear to everyone, right?” At that same event, the director of the DGT also recalled that the decision has been approved since 2021 and that this change should not catch anyone by surprise. 2021… The truth is that Navarro is not telling the whole truth when he assures that the exclusive use of the V-16 beacon was approved in 2021. In practice, this is the case and, in fact, it is already This possibility was discussed in 2020 when it was rumored that it would be mandatory a little earlier, in 2024. But Navarro’s statement is a half-truth. Because at the time we did not know that, in the end, the only approved lights would be those that can be connected with DGT 3.0. That regulatory change came in 2023. Now everyone who bought a beacon at that time has to spend the money again because your device is not valid. The reasons. For this change, the DGT has been arguing for years that putting triangles on the road is too dangerous. On the contrary, they have defended the use of the beacon by emphasizing the possibility of installing it on the roof of the car without having to leave the vehicle, just by sticking your arm out the window. To reaffirm this, Tráfico defends that on average Around 20 people were dying a year “after getting out of the vehicle” on the road. However, their data does not specify whether this refers to opening the door and getting out of the car, for example, or if the accident occurred when installing the triangles. It must be remembered that installing the beacon does not exempt passengers from standing outside the car. From 2023this operation must be carried out if there is a place away from traffic where you can wait for the emergency services. If it does not exist, that is when the passenger has to wait inside the car with the seat belt fastened. They do not convince. At least to some associations and road safety experts. To questions from Xatakathe Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) assured that dangerous situations had already occurred with the use of the V-16 beacon as the only warning element on the road. José Lagunar, road safety expert at Auto FM shared concerns, pointing out similar reasons in both cases. The main fears of critics with the measure are related to the low visibility of the device in daytime conditions but also to the duration of 30 minutes (minimum required by the DGT) that the device must be in operation, pointing out that if the arrival of emergencies or a tow truck takes longer than expected we will be sold out on the road, without the possibility of using any other device. And they can fine you. Both for ignoring the beacon and for not carrying it in the glove compartment of the car or, directly, putting in the emergency triangles. In any of these cases, an agent could fine us at least 80 euros (it is considered a minor infraction) for not wearing the appropriate equipment to mark an obstacle on the road or not marking it correctly. Despite everything, the AUGC recommended continue carrying the triangles in the car (something that is not a reason for a fine). The experts consulted by Xataka They remind us of the importance of being able to warn of a breakdown where the connected V-16 beacon is not effective, such as on a secondary road where changes in grade or sharp curves are more common. Photo | DGT In Xataka | The “made in China” business of the DGT’s V-16 beacons: homologating the same product 24 times and selling it under different brands

that of a future conditioned by AI

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In a labor market as competitive as the current one, aggravated by the condition of the imminent arrival of AI, it is increasingly important refine the choice of a university degree that facilitates job placement with good salaries and stable work. According to the report ‘The employability of young people in Spain 2025’ from the Knowledge and Development Foundation (CYD), three careers stand out in terms of employability in the following four years after finishing their studies: Computer Science, Health and Engineering. Having a university degree is useful for finding a job. According the data According to the report, in the 2018-2019 academic year, 189,438 people graduated from Spanish universities. Four years later, 75.9% of those graduates are affiliated with Social Security. Of that percentage that has found a job, 72.4% do so with an indefinite contract with an average salary contribution base of 30,976 euros. 80% carry out their work full-time, which are clear indicators of stable employment with remuneration above average in Spain. Graduates from public and private universities maintain differences, with private universities showing more permanent contracts in the first years, although in the fourth year the public university slightly surpasses them in stability. The champion in job placement. Following the same trend that eol already pointed out 2024 employability report from the CYD Foundation, IT once again consolidates itself as the most solid career in terms of stability and quality of employment four years after its completion. With an affiliation rate of 89.4% and an impressive 93.8% of permanent contracts (96.9% of them full-time), it is presented as the career that presents the greatest guarantees of obtaining stable employment in 2025. With 82.8% employability and 90.5% permanent contracts, we find the branches of Engineering, Industry and Construction, thus demonstrating the high demand for technical professionals what companies demand. It is worth highlighting at this point the Medicine career, which, although it registers a higher percentage of job insertion than Computer Science (94%) and has a higher salary contribution base, shows serious precariousness in hiring. Only 2% of graduates have a permanent employment contract after four years in the labor market. Salaries above average. As we mentioned in the previous section, the average salary contribution for Medicine graduates is 41,839 euros per year. Far exceeding the 36,732 euros per year that the average IT graduates pay in their fourth year in the labor market or the 33,215 euros per year that the rest of the computer, industrial and construction engineering majors pay. The red lanterns. As already reflected by the 2024 study datathe careers in the Arts and Humanities branch are the ones that offer the fewest professional opportunities with an average affiliation rate of 63.5%, of which only 73% do so with an indefinite contract and with an average contribution base of 27,185 euros per year. Well below their counterparts in Medicine and IT. The Education and Services branches are not faring better, with insertion rates below 80%, salary bases below 30,000 euros and greater uncertainty in job stability. Present use. If we compare the data from the 2024 study with that of 2025, we find an increase of 10 percentage points in the number of graduates with a permanent contract. This indicates that the work that has been generated is of better quality, but it must also be observed in a context of overall employment growth throughout the labor market, not just in that of graduates with higher education. That is to say, not only have the number of graduates with indefinite contracts increased, but, according to data From the EPA for the third quarter of 2025, full-time employment as a whole has increased by 314,500 people and partial employment has decreased by 196,100 people. Future employment. Despite the good data that graduates in Computer Science and Engineering have been presenting, the progressive arrival of AI to the labor market places them as the professions more exposed to automation. This means that, if a student begins one of these careers now, in eight years (four years of undergraduate plus the four years of job placement proposed by the study), the scenario could be totally different. In fact, Engineering is the one that is most accusing layoffs in big technology in the United States, the market in which AI is being deployed with greater intensity. At the opposite pole, the progressive aging of the population will further increase demand of professionals from field of health and serviceschanging the balances of the labor market and its salaries. In Xataka | For thousands of Spanish students, the challenge is not to pass the PAU and access university: it is to find a job of their own Image | Flickr (University of Seville)

They have published the plans for the future Russian nuclear bomber. And the worst thing for Moscow is that the West now knows how to deactivate it

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The last time Russia’s bombers made the news was to verify a unprecedented assault in the Ukrainian war. It happened with the Spiderweb operation that kyiv carried out in the heart of the Moscow air bases, when a swarm of more than 100 drones hidden in trucks managed to destroy an important part of the Russian fleet of strategic bombers. The truth is that Russia was developing an unprecedented bomber to renew its fleet, although there are now doubts that it could materialize. The fragility of an industry. The international intelligence network InformNapalmin cooperation with the Fenix ​​cyber center, has revealed one of the largest information blows against the Russian military-industrial complex since the start of the war in Ukraine. The data, obtained after infiltrating the internal systems of the Russian company OKBM (key supplier of components for strategic aviation and the space sector), show Russia’s deep dependence on foreign machinery and reveal classified technical information of two programs considered pillars of its new generation aviation: the stealth bomber PAK DA “Poslannik” and the Su-57 fifth-generation fighter. And more. According to InformNapalmthe stolen files were used for months for the benefit of the Ukrainian Defense Forces and allied countries, which amplifies the impact of the leak both at the operational and political levels. Between ambition and sanctions. The PAK DA, designed by Tupolev to replace veterans Tu-95 and Tu-160represents the Russian attempt to create a subsound strategic bomber flying wing with stealth capability, intercontinental autonomy and dual nuclear and conventional capability. Conceived since the early 2000s, the project has suffered chronic delaysbudget problems and a persistent inability to consolidate a national production chain. The leaked documents include coded hydraulic system specifications like 80RSh115responsible for opening the bomb bay hatches of Poslannik-1, and confirm the existence of a classified contract between Tupolev and OKBM which requires absolute confidentiality and allows it to be terminated if state secrecy is violated. Technical documentation with engineering drawings and specifications for the RSh type box used in the PAK DA bomb bay system Extra page. Not only that. Apparently, a additional annex (called Supplementary Agreement No. 7) details the scheduling of the production phases between 2024 and 2027, a calendar that is now more than compromised by the scandal and the deterrent effect of European sanctions. Technological dependence. The filtrationFurthermore, it reveals a structural contradiction: the Kremlin’s discourse on industrial sovereignty contrasts with the reality of a system that cannot sustain its own projects. no western technology. OKBM, an essential part of the gear that produces actuators and transmission systems for the Su-57 and the PAK DA, depends on CNC machinery imported from Taiwan (Hartford HCMC-1100AG and Johnford SL-50 models) and Serbia (Grindex BSD-700U grinding machine). The equipment was purchased through subsidies from the Ministry Russian Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which shows that the State itself finances the evasion of international sanctions. This framework (a mix of obsolete engineering, technological dependence and state bureaucracy) has become a strategic vulnerability that compromises Russia’s ability to sustain complex long-term programs. Supplementary agreement confirming the continuation of the contract of the PAK DA component under the revised technical code 80RSh A failed industrial pattern. The leaked internal emails They also include documentation on RSh-65 systems of hinge and transmission used in the weapons compartments of the Su-57, the fifth generation fighter that Moscow presents as a symbol of its technological autonomy. However, the materials confirm that production remains subject to the same bottlenecks than the PAK DA: lack of critical parts, dependence on foreign suppliers and delays caused by a shortage of precision tools. Despite public investment and the expansion of plants in Kazaninternal audits attribute the delays to the departure of international manufacturers from the Russian market after the invasion of Ukraine. The political coup. After the analysis of the documentsthe European Union officially included OKBM in its 19th sanctions package on October 23, 2025, recognizing its central role in Russian strategic weapons production and restriction evasion operations. This decision, directly motivated by the findings, confirms how cyber intelligence has become a battlefield expanse: a space where the exposure of industrial vulnerability can be as decisive as a physical attack. The operation, named OKBMLeaksis announced as the first chapter in a series of publications aimed at documenting the structural dependence of the Russian military sector on foreign technology and showing the erosion of its productive capacity. The Russian mirage. He OKBM case illustrates the distance between the Kremlin’s rhetoric about self-sufficiency and the material reality of an industrial complex sustained by imported parts, inherited engineering, and a network of opaque middlemen. If the PAK DA was to symbolize Russia’s entry into a new era of strategic aviation, the leak shows that the project is today a promise threatened by sanctionsproduction necks and lack of technological substitution. The vulnerability revealed transcends the technical: it reflects the accumulated cost of two decades industry dependency global and exposes the difficulty of sustaining a prolonged war without the support of a fully autonomous industrial base. In short, the scandal not only reveals aeronautical secretsbut rather it exposes the structural fragility of contemporary military Russia, whose defense apparatus seems increasingly sophisticated in its designs, but more than precarious in its actual capacity to manufacture them. Image | Russian Defense Minister, InformNapalm In Xataka | A 20-year-old technology led Ukraine to Russian bombers. Moscow’s answer comes from China: a laser cannon In Xataka | In 2024, Ukrainian trucks disguised as “home” entered Russia. Now they have dynamited their main air bases

If you really want to understand China (and how it sees the future), it’s easy: read its five-year plans

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Today’s China bears little resemblance to that of the mid-20th century, when in the time of Mao Zedong the People’s Republic decided to promote its first five year plan. ran the year 1953 and the country was preparing for the Great Leap Forwardan attempt at industrial modernization that ended with a famine with tragic consequences. Since then China has chained almost uninterrupted five-year plans, documents that help understand its evolution. Its reading is interesting now that the Central Committee of the Communist Party has launched the machinery to provide a plan for 2026-2030. Playing short or long term? On Monday Isaac Stone Fish, founder of Strategy Risk, opened a debate interesting in X: What horizon does China use when drawing up strategies? Do you focus on the long term or do you think only a few years ahead? It is not a minor issue. Stone himself brought up the subject a video released by the White House, the fragment of an interview granted by Trump to CBS in which it was pointed out that the Chinese “are playing the long game.” Click on the image to go to the tweet. “A recommended read”. “Let’s stop saying that the Chinese are playing the long game. This is orientalist nonsense that we must eradicate from our discourse with China. Read the Five Year Plan from five years ago and you will see how different China has become from what its leaders predicted. The Chinese think, like the rest of the people, mainly about the challenges they will face today and in the years to come,” claims the analyst, who assures that long-term speeches have other purposes, such as the party’s self-reaffirmation. He is not the only one who believes it. “If you are interested in reality, read the Chinese five-year plans. They are instructive,” slid another user in X. “Read a plan from five years ago. It is recommended.” But what are five-year plans? Economic and social guides, five-year guidelines that the Chinese authorities set for themselves and that basically set objectives in terms of development, industry, innovation or well-being. Also the paths to reach them. The first dates back to 1953 and since then they have been happening (with almost no pauses) with greater or lesser success, but exerting a key influence on the national evolution of the last 70 years. In fact it is not strange to hear that the turning point in China’s modern development came in 1978, with the economic reform promoted by Deng Xiaoping, which was followed shortly after by a five-year plan for the period 1981-1985. “A macro guideline”. “The five-year plan serves as a way for leaders to take stock, examine challenges and tasks, set directions and move forward. It must be followed closely, as strategic thinking and planning have become a rarity among governments,” They explain to EFE Nomura analysts. “It is a macro-level instruction or guideline for the market to know, including investors, state-owned enterprises and the public, to have the correct expectation of what government policy will be in the future,” comment in AP Li Lun, professor at Peking University. Its role is important because, as remember Neil Thomasresearcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute, marks a key difference with Europe or the US “Western politics operates through electoral cycles, but Chinese policymaking operates through planning cycles.” In the focus. That the Chinese five-year plans are being talked about right now is no coincidence. The country is immersed in the preparation of the new roadmap that will mark its steps until 2030, a complex scenario marked by the real estate crisishe weakening of domestic consumptionthe trade tensionshe youth unemployment or the aging of the population, among other challenges. A few days ago the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party met behind closed doors to talk about the new five-year plan, a document that will not be approved until March 2026but the one that Beijing wanted advance some keys. Among other goals, the technological self-sufficiencymaintain at a level “reasonable” of manufacturing and raise life expectancy up to the 80 years. Why is it important? Because although there is still a long way to go for the approval of the new five-year plan, in the past this roadmap has been key to understanding the priorities of the Chinese Government. Also in its development. At the end of October Nick Mash published an analysis on the BBC in which he details three occasions in which the plans have influenced the world economy: the reformist and opening trend of 1981-1984, the commitment to “strategic emerging industries” during 2011-2015 and “high-quality development” (2021-2025). Images | Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra (Unsplash) and Chinese Communist Party In Xataka | Xi Jinping wants two things: first, to create a global center that regulates AI. The second, that it is in Shanghai

Wearing glasses against “blue light” is a thing of the past. The future is anti-recognition glasses

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Facial recognition has been on our phones for years and is increasingly being implemented in more places. Airports, police investigations and even apps that want to implement it to prove that we are human. More and more systems they want to see our faces and concerns about privacy are increasing. The first invention to protect us from mass surveillance is here and comes in the form of glasses. ID Guard. It is the name that Zennia company that sells glasses online, has put its new lenses. They have a pink coating that reflects the infrared light used by many facial recognition systems like Apple’s FaceID. When we try to unlock the iPhone with them on, the eyes darken and that means the system is not able to verify the user. The problem. They count in 404media The problem with this technology is that it only works with systems that use infrared light. That is, we can still be identified through a normal photo. Most facial recognition systems that we can find on the street, for example those at airports or those used by the police, use normal cameras. New concern. We have been using biometric data to access mobile phones for years. However, unlike the fingerprint, our face is much more accessible and with the emergence of AI, Recognizing each other is easier than ever. There are services like PimEyes or Lenso.ai that recognize faces in just seconds simply from an image. Zenni’s glasses are a response to this new concern, although perhaps they arrive too soon, and they still have to solve the problem of recognition with normal cameras. Doxing. It is a type of attack in which a person’s private information is revealed. When we talk about mass surveillance we think of systems run by governments and authorities, but it goes beyond that. A “doxing“It is when, for example, someone records you, uploads the video to the networks and identifies you only from your image. We have recent cases such as the infidelity that was revealed by the kiss-cam at a Coldplay concert or that of that man who stole a child’s cap during the US Open. Video surveillance. There are many countries that have implemented massive video surveillance systems. The country that comes to mind before this mass surveillance thing is Chinabut there are many more places in the world full of cameras. In Europe we have the case of London, which has almost a million cameras installed in its streets. In United States, police are using facial recognition to arrest suspects (and making mistakes) and in The European Union approved the use of facial recognition in 2024 by the authorities. Image | Karola G, Pexels In Xataka | To what extent is it legal to use smart glasses like Facebook’s and record everything and everyone on the street?

The future of artificial intelligence is not in the cloud, it is in the nucleus of the atom

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On the outskirts of Palo, a farming town in eastern Iowa, you can still see the gray towers of Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Plant. They have been silent for years, but those who live nearby remember the constant hum that accompanied their childhood. For nearly half a century, that boiling water reactor was part of the landscape and power supply of the Midwest. Everything changed in August 2020, when a right —a wall of storms with hurricane-force winds—ravaged corn crops and damaged cooling towers. Duane Arnold went out and no one thought it would come back on. The plant, already aging and with a license about to expire, was permanently shut down. It seemed like the end. Five years later, that atomic silence will be broken again, driven not by the State or the traditional nuclear industry, but by a technology company: Google. “It’s alive, it’s alive.” Victor Frankenstein shouted in the 1931 film. Nine decades later, that cry echoes symbolically in Iowa: the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant will come back to life. The resurrection will come from Google and NextEra Energywhich will invest more than 1.6 billion dollars to return the pulse to the plant in 2029. According to ReutersGoogle will buy most of the energy generated for 25 years to power its artificial intelligence data centers, while NextEra will assume 100% control of the plant after acquiring the shares of its local partners. A restructuring never seen before. Reactivating a nuclear plant is not as simple as pressing a button again. In the case of Duane Arnold, Google and NextEra Energy plan to redo all critical infrastructure, modernize security systems and pass inspection by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) before receiving a new license. The project is unprecedented: to demonstrate that a closed plant can be revived under current safety standards. “Reopening an existing plant is faster and cheaper than building a new one from scratch,” explain analysts cited by the Financial Times. If all goes well, Duane Arnold will be producing energy again in 2029, along with Palisades and Three Mile Islandthe other two pieces of the American atomic renaissance. It is not the first, nor will it be the last. Big technology companies are betting on reopening nuclear plants. On the one hand, Microsoft signed a similar agreement with Constellation Energy to reopen the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, which is expected to resume operations in 2028. On the other hand, Amazon is working with Dominion Energy to develop SMR reactors (Small Modular Reactors) in Virginia. Google itself I had already taken steps in that direction: Last year it announced a partnership with Kairos Power to build seven SMR reactors by 2030, with a total capacity of 500 megawatts. These modular reactors are smaller, more efficient and safer, and are presented as the future of civil nuclear energy. Additionally, SMRs can be installed near data centers, reducing electrical transportation losses and costs. The AI ​​energy fever. The trend is unmistakable: Big Tech they are betting on the atom to fuel the era of artificial intelligence. Each new generation of models—from ChatGPT to Gemini to Claude—demands thousands of megawatts of additional power. And the growth is just beginning. In this context, OpenAI – the creator of ChatGPT – has asked the US government for a national plan to drastically expand the country’s electrical capacity. As CNBC reportedthe company asked the White House to commit to building 100 gigawatts of new energy capacity each year, warning that China added 429 gigawatts in 2024 alonecompared to 51 in the United States. In its statement it concludes with a phrase that will become an energy motto of the sector: “Electrons are the new oil.” Risks and doubts. Despite the enthusiasm, the Google project is not without controversy. Physicist Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists warned in the Financial Times that Duane Arnold has “the same design as the reactors that melted down at Fukushima in 2011” and that it suffered “significant damage, including its cooling towers, during the right “Until a realistic estimate of the cost of reconstruction and safety guarantees is known, we will not know if it can generate affordable electricity,” Lyman said. Likewise, Wall Street Journal collect the criticism from environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, which question the age of the reactor, the degradation of its components after years of inactivity and the management of radioactive waste. However, even among skeptics there is consensus on one point: AI’s energy appetite leaves no alternative to exploring all possible options. lhe electrons of the future. What is happening in Iowa is not a simple industrial reopening: it is a declaration of intent of the new technological capitalism. Google, symbol of the cloud and virtuality, turns to the most tangible and ancient atom to sustain its digital future. The paradox sums up the moment: artificial intelligence needs real matter, megawatts and electrons. The Duane Arnold plant, which once marked the rise and fall of the American nuclear dream, could be reborn as the energy heart of AI. And if OpenAI’s predictions come true, it won’t be the last. In the new global economy, electricity will be the oil of the 21st century. And in Iowa, Google just lit the spark again. Image | Unsplash Xataka | The amount of nuclear energy generated by each country, detailed in this interactive map

Aerothermal energy is the heating of the future, but the electrical installation is stuck in the past

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“Winter is coming”, read the iconic phrase of the Stark family in Game of Thrones. There are less than two months until the official arrival of winter and, with it, the time to see how our energy bill trembles as much as we do. Search formulas to heat the house becomes prevalent in this final stretch of the year, especially when heating continues to be one of the main reasons why electricity consumption skyrockets. Every season new technological promises appear to maintain comfort without emptying your pocket, and aerothermal energy has become one of the most popular.But the key question arises: can all homes really benefit from it? The rise of aerothermal energy. This technology It works in a very simple way: Harnesses the energy already in the outside air to heat or cool the house and produce hot water. Instead of generating heat by burning gas or consuming large amounts of electricity, this system “extracts” it from the environment and multiplies it. In practice, this means that for every kilowatt of electricity it needs to operate, aerothermal energy can produce up to five of useful heat or cold. While a radiator or boiler converts energy into heat directly, aerothermal energy does something more intelligent: it extracts heat from the air and multiplies it. According to the architects consulted by Arquitectura y Diseño They calculate that, in a medium-sized home, this difference can translate into savings of up to 35% annually, as long as the house is well insulated and the climate is favorable. For the pocket, it translates into about 100 to 130 euros less on the annual bill. So aren’t all houses ready? Although it sounds like a perfect technology, architects warn that not all homes can take advantage of aerothermal energy on equal terms. In fact, there are multiple factors that reduce its effectiveness: the type of home, its insulation, the location and the specific energy needs. In Mediterranean climates, for example, where passive design allows thermal comfort to be achieved without active systems, “it does not make sense to use aerothermal energy as the main heating or cooling system.” In other words, installing aerothermal heating without previously evaluating the home can be like buying an electric car without having a plug at home. Experts in sustainable architecture insist that energy demand must first be reduced and housing optimized before betting on advanced technologies. The state of the electrical installations is another of the great brakes on the electrification of the residential park. The Observatory of Electrical Rehabilitation of Housing warns that 80% of the houses have technical deficiencies, and that only 22.4% were built after the 2002 Technical Regulation. This makes it clear that the majority of homes continue to depend on old networks, poorly prepared to assume new energy demands such as those required by aerothermal energy or solar self-consumption. The signs to know if your home is suitable. Before considering installing aerothermal, technicians recommend doing a prior evaluation. OK with the expertsthese are the main technical requirements: Have a ventilated outdoor space, free of obstacles, to place the outdoor unit. Have a modern electrical installation and sufficient contracted power. Check the thermal insulation and carpentry: without a good envelope, the efficiency of the system drops. Adapt the existing heating system (for example, replacing conventional radiators with underfloor heating). Carry out a climate feasibility study: in very cold or hot areas, you may need support from another system. In short, aerothermal energy is not installed, it is prepared. A well-insulated house with modern electrical installation can convert air into free energy; An old home, on the other hand, can make it an expense that is difficult to amortize. Furthermore, if it is found that the initial investment It can exceed 8,000 euros for an 80 m² apartment. What if it is combined with solar energy? Where aerothermal energy deploys its full potential it is when combined with photovoltaic solar energy. This synergy multiplies performance and reduces dependence on the electrical grid. The energy generated by the plates can power the heat pump, achieving an almost self-sufficient system with an emissions balance close to zero. Furthermore, it has already been applied in real projects such as Casa Gualba, designed by Slow Studiothis formula allows the production of up to 17 MWh per year thanks to the integration of tiles and photovoltaic panels on the roof. In short, aerothermal energy and solar energy form an efficient tandem, as long as the home is prepared for it. Efficiency, yes, but with preparation. Aerothermal energy is here to stay. It is a key piece on the path to decarbonized homes, especially now that the European Union banned at the beginning of the year subsidize gas boilers. But, like all technology, it only works well when the environment supports it. Investing in aerothermal energy without first checking the electrical installation, insulation or orientation of the home can translate into frustration rather than savings. For this reason, it is advisable to do a good check and thus the air can become our best ally against the cold. Image | FreePik and FreePik Xataka | Resolving one of the great debates in all kitchens: whether it consumes more to turn on the oven or the air fryer

Calls and SMS pretending to be our bank are the past, scams with AI cloned voices are the future: Crossover 1×26

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Scams are a lifeless thing. They surround us and they flood us because we have never been more connected and more distracted. And scammers and hackers know this and try to get more out of it. And that’s how it goes for us. We talk precisely about that reality in this episode in which Jaume Lahoz has as a special guest Maria Aperadoran expert in cybersecurity and criminology, and who makes an exhaustive review of the techniques that are most used to scam us. The ones before, and the ones now. Thus, it tells us about banking scams and identity theft, but also about the danger that the user faces when they install fake applications or when they resort to pirated software and broadcasts: in many cases, saving some money to watch a match or be able to play a video game can make let’s install some malware without realizing it and, of course, ending up being very expensive. But all these methods are now added the danger posed by artificial intelligencewhich allows cybercriminals to attack more and better than ever. especially with deepfakes and cloned voices that can end up convincing us… and ruining us. There are, of course, ways to protect yourself and to avoid possible scares. María Aperador tells us about all of them and opens a door to hope. As that one said, be careful out there. On YouTube | Crossover

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